Ridiculous News Stories

This one is about an overreaction when someone's pet ball python got loose, and the unnecessary drama that unfolds. For some background info, ball pythons are normally 3-5ft in length, and it's not very common to find one 6ft or more. Ball pythons have very tiny teeth, and the most you'll get are some shallow scratches, even from a big one. There really wasn't any reason to get all your kids and pets and get out of the park, or even try to get rid of the snake in such a manner.
Original story w/ video: http://www.nbc4i.com/story/22685736/...bile-home-park
Follow-up story: http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/artic...e-apprehe.html

This one really made me shake my head sadly. They found a ball python in a car, and pretended like it was a big, mean boa constrictor or "red tail boa". A 4ft snake isn't really all that big at all, and the snake was very docile in the footage. Just some ordinary news fear-mongering.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19710487

Feel free to share your own news stories, or personal experiences of the same nature.

"That's the power of kittens (and puppies too, of course): They can reduce us to quivering masses of Jell-O in about two seconds flat and make us like it. Good thing they don't have opposable thumbs or they'd surely have taken over the world by now." -- Paul Lukas

Thank goodness the neighbor said something and the rest of the dogs are now safely away from her. As for her not remembering, I suspect either she's lying, or drugs/alcohol were involved. Not that that is an excuse, and she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!

I saw this on 4chan first, but it's about a man's rottweiler being shot right in front of him by a police officer. I've seen the video, and the dog wasn't acting defensively beyond barking and jumping out of the car (in my opinion). The dog didn't lunge until the cop grabbed for the collar. This whole fiasco could've been done differently, and should have, according to the rules the cops have to follow for apprehending dogs like this in CA. The process given for them to follow clearly states they must have the owner try to apprehend the dog BEFORE using lethal force. I may not be able to find the list again, but if I can, I'll link that, too. Then again, it seems like CA is having a really bad string of police brutality lately, so they probably don't care. Sure, the owner was being stupid as well (he should've properly locked up the dog or not even brought him/her to the scene, etc. etc.), I agree completely, but the police officer was also not following routine, and was in fault as well. After all, even obstruction of justice isn't enough to have someone cuffed and arrested, so the dog wouldn't have acted aggressively in the first place if the police officers didn't feel like cuffing the guy was necessary, for whatever reason. I also remember reading that the police officer had a history of violence and police brutality, even before he killed the dog. But, I can't seem to find the articles I read. This whole thing could've been handled so much better by both parties, and the dog paid for it.

"That's the power of kittens (and puppies too, of course): They can reduce us to quivering masses of Jell-O in about two seconds flat and make us like it. Good thing they don't have opposable thumbs or they'd surely have taken over the world by now." -- Paul Lukas

We paid how much for this study?

The CDC Really needed to waste their time on this? Looking at the graph in the new article, lightening strikes on men have been plummeting, while strikes on women have remained relatively stable. We MUST pour more money into this research group and do more to protect women from lightening strikes! Why are men getting safer while women's safety has remained stagnant? I'm outraged!

The one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind wasn't king, he was stoned for seeing light.

The CDC Really needed to waste their time on this? Looking at the graph in the new article, lightening strikes on men have been plummeting, while strikes on women have remained relatively stable. We MUST pour more money into this research group and do more to protect women from lightening strikes! Why are men getting safer while women's safety has remained stagnant? I'm outraged!

Some of these "studies" really amaze me - who green-lighted spending actually dollars for this? What politician is related to what "researcher?"